Photographs
by InkstainedHands1177
Summary: Loving someone can hurt. Goodbyes can hurt. Photographs keep them sane. Memories frozen inside frames. Besides, all the sadness of goodbyes are worth it when they can say hello again. (Just a sweet one-shot)


**"Photograph"**

 **A PJO Story**

Percy stared out the window and sighed. It was raining. While he loved water, rain was depressing in some ways. It reminded him that Annabeth wasn't there to sit next to him and hand him a cup of hot chocolate. Percy leaned his against the cold plane of glass. He wondered how she was doing. It had been three days since he saw her off at the airport. He closed his eyes and hummed a song that Annabeth and he had heard a couple of times. It practically screamed them.

 _Loving can hurt_

 _Loving can hurt sometimes_

 _But it's the only thing that I know_

 _When it gets hard_

 _You know it can get hard sometimes_

 _It is the only thing that makes us feel alive_

At Camp Half Blood, Jason smiled at Piper and told her to close her eyes. She did, but there was a frown of curiosity twisting her lips. He grinned wider and place a heavy book into her lap. Opening her eyes she smiled. It was a photo album. Some of the pictures were drawn by Rachel as Jason described them; some of the photos were actually taken by Jason from the camera that Leo made for him. She kissed him enthusiastically and began looking through the photographs. When she reached the end of them, she saw a familiar messy scrawl of Jason's handwriting. Reading it, she kissed him, trying to convey all the love and deep emotion into that one kiss.

 _We keep this love in a photograph_

 _We made these memories for ourselves_

 _Where our eyes are never closing_

 _Hearts are never broken_

 _Times forever frozen still_

Leo smiled as he glanced at his girlfriend. She was laughing and pulling fresh bread from their oven that Leo made. He smiled and moved over to the piano that Calypso had squealed over and never stopped playing until she master the art of playing it. His smile falter when he saw the photograph of his mother and him on the piano. Swallowing laboriously, he blinked the tears away. His mother had often sang to him just before she left for work. He drew out a photo of her that he always kept in the pocket of his pants. There were words written in Spanish on the yellowed back.

 _So you can keep me_

 _Inside the pocket_

 _Of your ripped jeans_

 _Holdin' me closer_

 _'Til our eyes meet_

 _You won't ever be alone_

 _Wait for me to come home_

Nico stared out his window at the infirmary. Will was in there, dealing with some camper who had a broken leg. He sighed and wished he didn't have to go on this chore of his father, but a constant stream of escaping ghosts was a serious matter that had to be dealt with. Nico shoved his hands into his pockets and drew them out again. Surprise flitting over his face before recognition replaced it. It was a picture of Will and him on their first date. He smiled and read the words on the back.

 _Loving can heal_

 _Loving can mend your soul_

 _And it's the only thing that I know_

 _I swear it will get easier_

 _Remember that with every piece of ya_

 _And it's the only thing we take with us when we die_

Frank smiled eagerly as Hazel entered their apartment. The shine of her wedding ring made him smile even more. He was Hazel's and Hazel was his, they had finally gotten married, the last pair in the Prophecy Gang, as Leo called it, but they still had gotten married. Hazel cocked her head inquisitively at him. He chuckled and drew her closer to him and showed her the their wedding photo that had just arrived. Her eyes widened. He kissed her delicately and whispered into her ear.

 _We keep this love in this photograph_

 _We made these memories for ourselves_

 _Where our eyes are never closing_

 _Our hearts were never broken_

 _Times forever frozen still_

Annabeth cried silently on her bed. She hadn't known that being separated from Percy would hurt so much. She sniffed and pulled her jacket over to her, frowning when she heard a crinkle of paper that shouldn't be there. He slipped her hand inside the pocket and drew out a photograph of Percy and her at the beach. Blackjack was in the background. Percy was laughing and she was smiling. It was one of their carefree moments. Annabeth sniffed back her tears. She checked the back to see the date, Percy had a habit of dating every printed photograph, he had gotten that from his mom. Instead of seeing a date immediately, she saw Percy's writing on the back. The words in Greek were written with Riptide's familiar golden ink. The words caused her to cry harder but these were tears of pure love.

 _So you can keep me_

 _Inside the pocket_

 _Of your ripped jeans_

 _Holdin' me closer_

 _'Til our eyes meet_

 _You won't ever be alone_

Paul sighed and put his head on his desk. He and Sally almost never fought. He shook his head, groaning. What did he do? Why did they even fight in the first place. Sighing again, he flipped on the radio. A song came on. At first he didn't listen, only nodded dumbly to the beat, hoping the music was lull him into forgetting that fight, but then the words came through to him. His eyes widened, he pulled an illegal U-turn and zipped back to his apartment. Tearing up the stairs he opened the door, ripped open his wallet, and raced into their bedroom, where he knew Sally would be, crying. He pulled her up into his arms and repeated the words, mixed with words of apology of his own. He showed her a photograph of her that he kept in his wallet. He kissed her. He loved her. Sally smiled and repeated his words back to him. She traced the image on the paper.

 _And if you hurt me_

 _That's OK, baby, only words bleed_

 _Inside these pages you just hold me_

 _And I won't ever let you go_

Annabeth, at the same time, stared up through the window at the moon. She smiled a tearful smile and hoped Percy could hear her.

 _Wait for me to come home_

Nico sighed and packed the last of his things. He stared at the infirmary and shook his head. Will was in surgery. Besides, they had said their goodbyes earlier. He sighed again and shadow traveled away.

 _Wait for me to come home_

Jason touched Piper's cheek gently and kissed her. He was heading for New Rome to continue his duties as Pontifex Maximus. She sniffed back her tears and waved at him as he got into the van. Argus drove away. Jason leaned back and looked through the window. He waved again at her.

 _Wait for me to come home_

Leo curled up on his sofa and stared at the photo. He shook his head. She never would though. She never would come home. He wanted his mama back. He didn't notice Calypso entered the room. She bit her lip and moved toward him. Kissing his cheek gently, she smiled. He held her until his grief subsided, for grief never really went away, it just lied dormant until it could raise it's head. Leo stared at the fire in the fireplace, but couldn't bring himself to scoff at the words his mama always whispered to him.

 _Wait for me to come home_

Annabeth stepped off the plane and ran to Percy. He grinned and handed her something. It was a photo of him kissing her cheek, locket size. Her smile widened and she hugged him tightly. He murmured the words of their song to her. She held him tighter. She would never let him go.

 _Oh you can fit me_

 _Inside the necklace you got when you were 16_

 _Next to your heartbeat_

 _Where I should be_

 _Keep it deep within your soul_

Amphitrite sighed at Poseidon. The man could truly be infernal at times. She shook her head and sighed again. It would be the anniversary of Percy Jackson's birth in two days. Poseidon wanted to see him. He was kindly asking his wife if that was fine with her. She turned so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes. Her eyes lit upon a series of magic made images lining the wall. Triton's birth. Her wedding day to Poseidon. Poseidon kissing her. She bit back a cry of emotional agony. Turning to him again, she nodded. He smiled and kissed her. When he left, she began to sing lowly, using the voice that had first attracted him to her.

 _And if you hurt me_

 _Well, that's OK, baby, only words bleed_

 _Inside these pages you just hold me_

 _And I won't ever let you go_

Nico sighed as he helped his father's troops block up the exit. He looked around at his dismal surroundings and shook his head. He whispered the words of a song that had kept him going during this whole trip.

Jason sighed and leaned his head back. He had never known how tedious it would be to get all the Greek and Roman gods their temples. He had known, but it had never registered. There was red tape all over the place. He looked out the window and saw a bird singing in the trees. Smiling, he remembered Piper's voice. She was like a bird. He sang very quietly along with the song that the bird was singing.

Frank smiled at Hazel sadly. He was going on a negotiations meeting with Renya as a Praetors should. She sniffed and kissed him. He bent down and kissed her belly. Their son was in there. He smiled at her and moved over to the van that would take him and Renya to where the Hunters had gathered. The Hunters of Artemis were interested in a truce and alliance meeting, like they had done with the Greeks. Hazel heard Frank's call. She glance up and saw him motioning to his phone. Pulling hers out, she read the text he sent to her.

Annabeth curled up beside Percy and smiled up at him. He grinned that lopsided, mischievous grin that had endeared itself to her. She kissed him tenderly, and he held her tightly. Percy recalled the last stanza to their song. It had never rung more true than when Annabeth left to see her father.

 _When I'm away_

 _I will remember how you kissed me_

 _Under the lamppost_

 _Back on 6th street_

 _Hearing you whisper through the phone,_

 _"Wait for me to come home._

 **This song is called Photograph and is sung by Ed Sheeran. I was listening to it and realized that it was a perfect song for our Prophecy Seven Gang. I hope you agree with me. I do not own the Percy Jackson books, Rick Riordan does. I do not own Photograph either.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please review if you did, and tell me your favorite pair. = )**

 **Thanks!**

 **Ink…**


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